Zurk's Alaskan Trek

Reviewed by Anise Hollingshead
Published by Soleil

Age Group: Age 4 to 8, Age 8 and Up
Type: Science
Price: $30.00 US

PC version requires:
486, 8MB RAM, 2x CD-ROM

Mac version requires:
System 7.0, 8 MB RAM, 2x Cd-ROM

Description:

Take a trip to the tundra with Zurk's Alaskan Trek and be prepared to stay awhile, there's plenty to do here. You can look up facts about native animals and plants, direct a movie with some of the animals, and watch how different animals interact with each other and their habitats in a wildlife theater. A portfolio allows you to save your work, and to take notes on what you are learning.

There are 2 different cabin settings to choose from, the Denali Cabin and the Northern Cabin. In the Denali Cabin, a young Athabascan girl is staying there for the summer, and in the Northern cabin an Inuit girl is residing. The activities are the same in each cabin, but the wildlife is slightly different.

Features:

  • Field guides on Alaskan animals and plants
  • Program your own movies
  • Set up a mini-park of your own
  • 11 short videos

Technical Aspects:

This program was easy to install and ran well. The graphics are nice (similar to SimPark's) and very detailed, and an on-line manual is included on the CD-ROM.

Report and Conclusions:

Zurk's Alaskan Trek is a good reference tool for the classroom and also at home. There are many facts on the Alaskan native plants and animals, and several interactive activities which use these facts. I especiallly liked the Theater activity; it is similar to SimPark, but is much smaller in scope and depth. One activity I didn't much care for was the Balancing Act where kids can weigh the animals and answer math problems about the animals' weight, it's just not very engaging; however, overall this is a program that's educational and fun.




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